Whitley Bay 2-2 West Allotment Celtic
Monday 26th December 2016
Report by Peter Fox
In difficult windy conditions and despite trailing at half time Bay looked to have ended a four game winless run but were foiled at the death.
It was the visitors who went ahead after only five minutes when, following a left wing corner, the ball was played back across the face of goal for former Bay striker Liam Hudson to head home.
It was taking the home side some time to get going although they briefly threatened when Callum Patton’s free kick was headed behind for a corner after 12 minutes but overall although Whitley were starting to have an increased share of possession there was precious little creativity on display and with both Adam Shanks and Andy Robertson missing through injury, Bay looked a bit lightweight up front.
West Allotment should have increased their lead 6 minutes before the break when Kallum McGlen blazed over from close range then right on half time Shaun Reay had a shot blocked and visitors led at the interval, though the first half had been poor fare for the 357 crowd.
Just after half time there was a lengthy stoppage when Callum Anderson needed treatment and he had to go off to be replaced by Ryan Keltie, however after 52 minutes Bay were level when a swift passing move saw Tom Potter finish sweetly from the right side of the 18 yard box into the top corner.
Bay looked to be in the ascendancy and ten minutes later they were in front but it was a goal Allotment keeper Chris Bannon will be having nightmares about. Following a foul on Liam Brooks, Callum Patton’s free kick went round the wall but what seemed to be a routine save for Bannon turned into Whitley’s second goal as the ball squirmed through his legs much to the delight of the home fans.
Tom Flynn held a Chris Douglas shot and the Allotment substitute Stephen Young (another former Whitley striker) saw his header blocked.
It looked as if Whitley had done just enough to hold on for the points until the 90th minute when Young saw his shot saved by Flynn. It looked as if the ball would go out for a corner but seemed to hold up in the wind and dropped for Hudson to nudge it over the line for a last gasp equaliser for Allotment.
Bay: Flynn, McCarthy, McDonald ©, Haley, Anderson (47 Keltie), Allen, Potter, C Patton, Brooks (84 K Patton). Glen-Ravenhill (72 Charmey), Kempster
Not used: Munro, Cooper
Referee: Lindsey Robinson (Hebburn)
Man of the Match Tom Potter with award sponsor Martin Kelly of h2o Bathrooms.  Photo by Adam Taylor-Christensen.
